Felt great to be back in the middle after 5 years: Sachin Tendulkar

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Legendary Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar on Wednesday said that it felt great to be back in the middle of a cricket field when he went out to bat during the Bushfire Cricket Bash.

"It felt really good to be back in the middle after 5 years, Mithali. Loved facing each ball for this cause," tweeted Tendulkar while responding to ace India batswoman Mithali Raj.

On Sunday, Tendulkar faced Australia's star all-rounder Ellyse Perry and Annabel Sutherland in an over during the innings break of the bushfire cricket bash -- a 10-over-a side charity game organised by Cricket Australia to raise funds for the communities devastated by the fires.

The likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Courtney Walsh, Yuvraj Singh and Wasim Akram were present among many as Ricky Ponting XI won the tie at the Junction Oval.

Perry bowled the first four balls and then bowling was carried on by Sutherland while the Australian women took over the fielding responsibility.

The 46-year-old ended up hitting a four off the first ball he faced.

Opening up about the experience of bowling to Tendulkar, Perry had clarified it wasn't her intention to bowl into the Indian great's ribs but she ended up doing so in an attempt to hit the deck hard with the old ball.

"Well, because I wasn't allowed to use a new ball I thought I probably need to put it into the wicket a little more," Perry said. "But I certainly didn't mean to bowl it at Sachin's ribs from the first ball. I think that wasn't the right thing to do. But it was incredible, an amazing moment," she added.

The Bushfire Cricket Bash raised more than $7.7 million for the communities devastated by the fires that have ravaged Australia, according to Cricket Australia's report.